


Kelpie

by Animated_Astromancer



Series: Horror and Unsettling Original One-Shots [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Drabble, Museums, Unsettling, did she make the right decision? you decide, horror -freeform, one act, un-reality, you know for how often i have 'unreality' episodes i write a really mean oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29058132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animated_Astromancer/pseuds/Animated_Astromancer
Summary: A one-act I wrote for high school that I'm quite proud of. I have decided to post some of my original works because honestly fuck it why not
Series: Horror and Unsettling Original One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132715
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	Kelpie

**ACT ONE**  
**THE ONLY ACT**

**~**  
**KELPIE**  
**~**

A dimly lit room, one that must be in a zoo or aquarium somewhere.

Tanks line the walls, casting an eerie blue-green glow all about them.

We see a form [THE CREATURE] sitting in the largest one [STAGE LEFT], its back pressed against the glass.

It’s backlit, so all we can see is its silhouette. The main attraction.

The lights of the room are dark. The establishment is closed.

We see [CHILD] holding a balloon approach out of the shadows. She is unaccompanied.

[CHILD] reaches out tentatively to touch the glass of [CREATURE]’s display.

**CREATURE**  
(in a low rumble: without turning, but still very much addressed to CHILD)  
You shouldn’t do that, you know. They say I’m a monster.

 **CHILD**  
(pulls hand away before sitting on the ground on her side of the glass, her back pressed against it as well)  
You don’t look dangerous to me. ...Or is this your telling me to be careful?

 **CREATURE**  
(chuckling)  
Which do you think it is?

 **CHILD**  
I think this is your first conversation in a while. I think that you don’t get to talk to anyone.

And I think that you are talking to me because I intrigue you.

 **CREATURE**  
(taken aback)  
You’re not exactly wrong.

**CHILD**  
(still very much faced away)  
Is it lonely?

**CREATURE**  
I beg your pardon?

 **CHILD**  
(pointing to a sign [TO HER LEFT] hidden by the lighting)  
It says you’re one of the last of your kind. Is it lonely?

 **CREATURE**  
I suppose. I don’t feel any less of myself simply because there is no one like me, though. Maybe it feels different? Being part of a whole?

 **CHILD**  
(beat)  
Maybe the fear is that it would feel the same.

 **CREATURE**  
You mean you wouldn’t know?

 **CHILD**  
(sighs, knocks head back against the glass, looking up at the ceiling for stars that cannot be seen)  
It certainly doesn’t feel distinct.

 **CREATURE**  
To be part of a whole?

 **CHILD**  
To be.

 **CREATURE**  
Then at least it doesn’t pain you.

 **CHILD**  
Maybe not, but it does ache.  
[A SILENCE SETTLES OVER THE EXHIBIT]  
(she shakes her head)  
That is not what I am here for.

**CREATURE**  
(amused)  
And what are you here for then?

 **CHILD**  
(turning to face the exhibit. She now kneels with her right hand touching the glass)  
I am here to ask if you are lonely.

 **CREATURE**  
You’ve asked me that already.

 **CHILD**  
(petulantly)  
And yet I still have no answer.

 **CREATURE**  
How do you know that whatever I say won’t be a lie?

 **CHILD**  
I hope that you won’t if that counts for anything.

 **CREATURE**  
(quieter, to itself)  
It should. It should, but it won’t.

 **CHILD**  
And why not?

 **CREATURE**  
You are brimming with questions, small one. Take care to see them not overflow.

it gets up (it is enormous). Turns to the glass. Looks CHILD in the eyes with all of its own. Smiles. Its teeth are sharp and numerous, but its form is now indistinct, fluid. It grows and ebbs and quells and breathes and shifts and roils. It is Everywhere and Nowhere all at once, yet it is contained, trapped. confined. A tear slides silently down CHILD’s cheek, but she is not afraid. She stands too. She knows what she must do. CHILD grins back and looses her balloon as two night guards round the corner [STAGE RIGHT] brandishing flashlights.

**CREATURE**  
(it places its hand on the glass where the CHILD’s is on the opposite side)  
It seems we do not have much longer here.

 **GUARD** **ONE**  
(urgently)  
Young lady, please step away from the glass.

 **GUARD** **TWO**  
What are you doing here? We’re closed!

The CHILD’s balloon hits the ceiling of the viewing area and explodes. It’s had a fuse the entire time. The little girl is holding a match. She drops it as it burns down to her fingers. It sputters on the linoleum. There is an explosion, and silence.


End file.
